RONALD REAGAN 1911-2004: A President Whose Optimism Earned Him a Place in History ; He Was a Product of Simpler Times, but Ronald Reagan's Administration Gave Birth to the Politics of the Television Age, Writes Rupert Cornwell

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IF YOU seek his monument, look around. In Washington there is Ronald Reagan National Airport and the vast Ronald Reagan International Trade Centre. Across the rest of the country, there are stretches of Ronald Reagan highway and Ronald Reagan plazas. Soon, if the Republicans in Congress who venerate him have their way, his face will appear in everybody's pocket, adorning the humble dime.

If the measure is approved, the 40th president will share the 10 cents coin with Franklin D Roosevelt, the sole president, arguably, over the past century to have done more to change America and the world. But perhaps the greatest monument to Mr Reagan is the White House itself: not the …